Political families besides Nehru-Gandhi clan which have been integral part of Indian polity

Indian political landscape has always been dominated by families who have played an important role in Indian polity and governance. This elections shall also witness some members of the Gandhi, Yadav, Abdullah and Mufti clan contesting elections from their historically strong bastions.

Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections got underway with the first round of polling in 91 constituencies across 18 states and 2 Union Territories on Monday. The 17th general elections shall witness candidates from national as well as regional parties battle it out hard against each other in 543 parliamentary constituencies with the 90 crore plus electorate deciding their fate by exercising their adult franchise. Indian political landscape has always been dominated by families who have played an important role in Indian polity and governance. This elections shall also witness some members of the Gandhi, Yadav, Abdullah and Mufti clan contesting elections from their historically strong bastions. Besides the Nehru-Gandhi family which has often hogged the limelight for staying relevant for over seven decades in Indian politics, there have been families which take centre stage  Here are some of the notable families which have played a major role in shaping the political destiny of the national and their respective states Abdullahs from Kashmir The most prominent political family which have been an integral part of the political diaspora of Jammu and Kashmir have been the Abdullahs. The Abdullah family produced four chief ministers from their stable, spanning three generations. The current National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah has served as the J&K chief minister while his father, Farooq Abdullah, has held the top political post in the state on multiple occasions besides being a union minister in the UPA 2 government between 2009 and 2014. Omar’s grandfather is Sheikh Abdullah considered as the founder of Jammu and Kashmir — popularly referred to as ‘Sher-e-Kashmir’ (Kashmir’s lion) — founded the National Conference  before serving as the first prime minister of Kashmir and later as the chief minister. Muftis from Kashmir The Muftis, the main rivals to the Abdullah's had Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and his daughter Mehbooba Mufti serve as the state’s chief minister. Sayeed’s son, Tassaduq Mufti, a cinematographer by profession, is the latest entrant into politics from the Mufti family. The Badals from Punjab In Punjab, the Badal family has been the dominant family in the state’s politics for over six decades. The most noteworthy politican of the Badal family was Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) founder and four-time chief minister, Parkash Singh Badal. His son Sukhbir Singh Badal (now the president of the Shiromani Akali Dal served as the deputy CM of the state between 2009 and 2017. Sukhbir also served as a Lok Sabha MP and was a union minister for a brief while in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government that had a mere 13-month stint in 1998. Sukhbir’s wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal is a Lok Sabha MP and currently serving as the Union minister in the Modi government. Harsimarat’s brother, Bikram Singh Majithia, is also a SAD politician and was a state cabinet minister when the Akalis were in power. Parkash Singh Badal’s brother, Gurdas Singh Badal, has also been a parliamentarian. Gurdas’ son, Manpreet Singh Badal, once looked set for bigger things in SAD before relations soured between the families. He is now with the Congress. Punjab’s incumbent Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh also hails from a family of politicians who held relevance in both national and state politics. His wife Preenet Kaur is a three-time Lok Sabha MP and served in the Manmohan Singh cabinet in the UPA 2 government while son Raninder Singh is also with the Congress party.  Virbhadra Singh from Himachal Pradesh Veteran Congress l1eader Virbhadra Singh has the distinction of being Himachal Pradesh’s longest-serving chief minister. Singh’s wife Pratibha has been a Lok Sabha MP while his son Vikramaditya was elected to the state assembly  in the 2017 polls. The Scindias from Madhya Pradesh The Scindias, the much talked about princely clan with royal lineage have been the first family of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. Matriarch Vijaya Raje Scindia was a prominent Jana Sangh and BJP leader. Her daughters Yashodhara and Vasundhara Raje have followed their mothers footsteps to rise as eminent BJP leaders. Vasundhara Raje has been a two-time Rajasthan chief minister while her son Dushyant is a BJP Member of Parliament. Vijaya Raje’s son, Madhavrao, and grandson Jyotiraditya followed a different path.  Madhavrao  and son  Jyotiraditya have been senior Congress leaders as well as cabinet ministers in the central government. Madhavrao Scindia died in a plane crash in 2001.Jyotiraditya a Congress MP from Gwalior is presently serving as the General Secretary of Western Uttar Pradesh unit. Yadavs from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar Mulayam Singh Yadav and his clan The Yadavs of the Samajwadi Party (SP) are arguably the most well-known political family in the Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh. While former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and socialist leader Mulayam Singh Yadav is considered as the founder of the SP, son Akhilesh Yadav, a former CM himself, has learnt the traits of governance and politics from his father and rose to prominence, getting elected as the Chief Minister of the state. Meanwhile, Akhilesh’s uncles — Ram Gopal Yadav and Shivpal Yadav have also been active in the political circles. While Ram Gopal, a Rajya Sabha MP, has continued to remain an important leader in the SP, Shivpal broke away to form his own party — the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party  in September 2018. Mulayam’s daughters-in-law have also been active in politics. Dimple Yadav, Akhilesh’s wife, is a Lok Sabha MP from Kannauj while Aparna Yadav, his younger son Prateek’s wife, unsuccessfully contested the 2017 assembly polls from the Lucknow Cantt constituency. Lalu Prasad Yadav and his sons  Talk about politics in Bihar and one cannot leave out RJD patriarch and former Bihar chief minister and ex-union minister Lalu Prasad Yadav out of the equation. Lalu was an important leader from the socialist school of thought and was an integral part of ‘JP movement’ (led by Jay Prakash Narayan) of the 1970s. Known for his witty sense of humour and astute political acumen, Lalu now has four of his blood relatives, besides him, in politics. His wife Rabri Devi has been a chief minister while son Tejashwi is the leader of opposition in the Bihar assembly. Elder son Tej Pratap was a minister in the state and his daughter Misa Bharti contested the Patliputra Lok Sabha seat in 2014 but lost. Bahugunas from Uttarakhand The first-generation among the Bahugunas to enter politics was Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna. He had a sea-saw relationship with the Congress where he forayed intopolitics. He went onto become the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. His son Vijay Bahuguna,split from the Congress along with other rebels to join the BJP ahead of 2017 assembly polls in Uttarakhand, served as the state’s chief minister and a Lok Sabha MP. His sister Rita Bahuguna Joshi, meanwhile, is a minister in the current BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. Another family which has been quite active in the state politics of Uttar Pradesh has been that of Chaudhary Charan Singh, the former Prime Minister of India Charan Singh’s son, Ajit Singh, founded the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)  is an important Jat leader in western Uttar Pradesh. A former MP, Ajit Singh has served as a cabinet minister in various central governments. His son, Jayant Chaudhary, is an active politician and was an MP from Mathura between 2009 and 2014.